West Indies look to advance unbeaten; Italy aim to finish on a high

For West Indies, the pieces of the puzzle are falling together at the right time as they prepare for their final Group C game ahead of the Super Eight.

Three West Indies batters – Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford and Shimron Hetmyer – have hit half-centuries across the three games, and their seamers Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder have a five-for and a four-for respectively. With games against Zimbabwe, South Africa and India lined up in the Super Eight, West Indies will hope their economical spinners get into the wicket-taking groove too.

They are not taking Italy lightly, though, as batting coach Floyd Reifer said on the eve of the game in Kolkata, not after seeing how Zimbabwe took down Australia in Group B. Momentum is an oft-used term in tournament conversations, and with one eye on finishing Group C unbeaten, West Indies aren’t likely to make wholesale changes to the XI.

As for Italy, it’s time for one last hurrah, one final chance to enthral global audiences before they step back into the shadows. They will still be without injured captain Wayne Madsen, who on match eve talked about his pride at the team’s progress, even though his own competition lasted only four overs on the field.

With the positives they have taken through the T20 World Cup, they will come out with an attitude of meeting their stronger opponents “head on”, but will need something special to take down the in-form West Indies.

Italy LWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WWWWL

Grant Stewart, born in Western Australia and playing for Kent, has taken the opportunity to represent Italy very seriously. He’s hired a tutor to give him language lessons off the field and, while on it, has been one of many allrounders who have held the team together. He didn’t bat against Nepal and scored just 2 against Scotland, but during his 45 against England, he took down world-class bowlers like Adil Rashid with ease. Can he repeat that against Holder and Co?

Will Quentin Sampson get a go? His selection had divided opinion among West Indies fans, but he could get a taste of World Cup cricket on Thursday. Against a strong Afghanistan side, he made a promising debut, scoring 30 with two sixes against Rashid Khan in Dubai. But in his other two T20I appearances, he made just 2 and 3 against the same opponents. His captain Shai Hope said before the T20 World Cup that Sampson was “among the cleanest hitters”, and the Italy fixture presents a great opportunity to not only test him but also for West Indies to find another batting option, should they need one in the Super Eight.

Reifer said West Indies had all players available, even if some of them had a “a niggle or two” because of the constant cricket in tournament play. Harry Manenti will continue as Italy’s stand-in captain.

Italy (probable): 1 Justin Mosca, 2 Anthony Mosca, 3 JJ Smuts, 4 Harry Manenti (capt), 5 Ben Manenti, 6 Grant Stewart, 7 Marcus Campopiano, 8 Gian-Piero Meade (wk), 9 Jaspreet Singh, 10 Crishan Kalugamage, 11 Ali Hasan

West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Rovman Powell/Quentin Sampson, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Shamar Joseph

It’s getting warmer and muggier in Kolkata and an 11am start means there will be something for the seamers early on. As the day progresses, batting-friendly conditions should take over, and it should be helpful for spinners as the sun keeps baking the Eden Gardens pitch through the afternoon.

ESPNCri